Warwickshire Railways: Railway Art and Colourised
Photographs

Our admiration for artists who have the ability to capture
the atmosphere of railways and translate it on to canvas led to our creating
this section of the website soon after the website was created. We stated then
that whilst photographers can capture the moment, and thereby record actual
events, artists can capture much more which is why paintings are so often
described as being evocative but photographs rarely so. Some ten plus years
since the website was launched technology has now offered the ability to
convert black and white images to colour. In the field of film this has proven
highly controversial and I am sure there will be people who will have a similar
view of black and white railway photographs being colourised. Without
detracting in any way from the inspired work of talented artists, whether they
be professionals like Phil Hawkins or Gerald Broom or 'amateurs' like Alan
Fisher, we believe there is a place for colourisation and have therefore added
a section on this page to show off colourised photographs.

Railway Art

As stated above, the skill of artists who can capture the
evocative atmosphere of railways is much admired. We recognise that their skill
to turn a palette of colours into a memory of a moment by inspired brushstrokes
is second to none. We would also like to express our thanks to the artists
listed below for kindly granting permission for their work to be shown on the
website. As we are sure you will agree, their work adds another dimension to
our ability to remember moments from the past. The roll call of artists seen
below is divided into two sections; members or past members of the Guild of
Railway Artists who are professional artists and others, predominantly
enthusiastic and competent amateurs.

We highly recommend a visit to the Guild of Railway Artists'
own website which illustrates some of the work of nearly fifty artists as well
as listing exhibitions and publications. For further information about the
Guild of Railway Artists and its exhibitions please view the Guilds web
site at www.railart.co.uk .

We have limited the paintings on show to those which
portray scenes from the county's railways. In many instances the artists listed
have substantial collections of other railway scenes but of themes focused
outside of Warwickshire.